It has long been common practice to knit various items of wearing apparel and the like in colored patterns. Typical equipment for use by knitters are disclosed in the following U.S. patents: Richard U.S. Pat. No. 611,333; Sedgwick U.S. Pat. No. 2,493,208; Fitts et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,628,042; and Broschard U.S. Pat. No. 3,054,277. These employ various expedients for avoiding entanglement of the different colors of yarn involved in knitting a variegated pattern. Sedgwick provides a one piece wire frame configured to support bobbins of the required number of colors. This device has numerous manifest disadvantages because limited to the use of bobbins and the ease with which it can be upset or moved from place to place unintentionally. Fitts et al proposes a yarn holder divided into a number of compartments and having a notched lid through which the strands are drawn. To change colors it is necessary to open the holder and physically transfer the skein from one compartment to another. Broschard provides a knitting accessory comprising a strip through which individual strands are passed from suspended bobbins. The individual strands are maintained in predetermined order by the notched strip and the weight of the various bobbins are suspended from the workpiece.
In items knitted or crocheted in patterns of different colors and having need for a repeated use of a particular color in the same row of stitches, the operator must endeavor to carry that color along the rear side of the item and to interlock it at intervals with stitches of a different color. This unavoidably renders the item unsightly. Moreover the back runs are easily ensnared on buttons, fasteners and by the user's fingernails.